Archive for June 13, 2019
Outrageous for Women
Jun 13th
Outrageous for women
In Alabama — where lawmakers banned abortion for rape victims — rapists’ parental rights are protected
Also Minnesota, these are the only two in the US.
“Many rapists commit assaults as a way to dominate and control,” said Lisae Jordan, director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault. “Seeking custody is just a continuation of that desire to dominate.”
Such cases are complicated by a history of court findings that grant parents a fundamental right to the care, control and custody of one’s child, said Judith Lewis, legal director of the Barbara J. Hart Justice Center, a project of the Women’s Resource Center.
That makes judges reluctant to restrict parental custody and inclined to presume both parents are capable, Lewis said, and the result is state laws and court rulings that put the child in harm’s way and create emotional distress that makes parenting harder for the fit parent.
“We don’t tell someone that has robbed a bank that they can keep the money that they stole, yet the law allows someone that committed rape the right to parenthood,” Lewis said. “It’s appalling.”
Yes and monstrous!